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Spain comprises many regions with their
own historical and cultural characteristics, including a variety
of languages (Castilian, Catalan, Basque, Galician), and this
regional diversity is strongly reflected in its music. Also
an important influence on the music of Spain was the invasion
by the Arabs and Moors and the long occupation that followed
(711-1492). It was particularly significant in the southern
region of Andalusia and is reflected in the style called cante
jondo ("deep song"), with its florid melodies and
exotic scales. Moorish musicians were also active at the court
of Alfonso the Wise (1221-84), who ruled the united kingdom
of Castile and Leon and who compiled a famous collection of
religious songs with instrumental accompaniment in praise
of the Virgin Mary, the Cantigas de Santa Maria.
By 1492, Spain had achieved some degree of political unity
under the rule of Ferdinand and Isabella, and music and the
arts flourished. Secular vocal music began with ballads that
recounted heroic exploits, tragic events, and tales of love.
These ballads were part of the folklore of the common people,
but they also appeared in arrangements by court composers
for three or four voices, or for solo voice with guitar or
vihuela (a combination of lute and guitar).
The ballad was called romance in Spanish, and its rustic counterpart
was the villancico, originally a song of the peasants or villagers.
The villancico became popular during the Renaissance, in the
form of part-songs arranged by the leading composers of that
period, such as Juan del ENCINA. The most important collection
of villancicos is the so-called Cancionero de Palacio (Palace
Songbook), containing nearly 500 songs.
During the 16th and 17th centuries, many composers published
collections of instrumental and vocal music, at first for
the vihuela and later the guitar. Among the best-known were
Luis de Milan's El Maestro (The Master; 1535), Enriquez de
Valderabano's Silva de Sirenas (Songs of the Sirens; 1547),
Miguel de Fuenllana's Orphenica Lyra (Orpheus' Lyre; 1554),
and Esteban Daza's El Parnaso (The Poetry Collection; 1576).
These compositions were all written for the six-string guitar,
which in the 17th century was replaced by the guitar with
five strings, known as the Spanish guitar--the characteristic
instrument of Spain.
Spain could boast of having some of the greatest composers
of church music in this period, notably Cristobal de Morales
(c.1500-53), Francisco Guerrero (1527-99), and above all Tomas
Luis de VICTORIA, whose masterpiece is his magnificent Requiem
Mass (1605).
The Spanish lyric drama began its development in the 17th
century with an opera titled La Selva sin Amor (The Loveless
Forest). Its text was written by Lope de Vega, but the composer
is unknown. Juan Hidalgo (c.1600-85) wrote the music for several
opera librettos by Calderon de la Barca. The most popular
form of musical theater in Spain, however, was the ZARZUELA,
which combined singing and spoken dialogue and generally had
a comic or entertaining plot. It originated in the 18th century
but had its greatest vogue during the 19th, when hundreds
of zarzuelas were produced. The greatest master of this form
was Francisco Asenjo Barbieri (1823-94), famous for his Pan
y Toros (Bread and Bulls; 1864) and El Barberillo de Lavapies
(The Barber of Lavapies; 1874).
As the 20th century approached, Spain produced three of the
best-known composers of modern times: Isaac ALBENIZ, Enrique
GRANADOS, and Manuel de FALLA. All were influenced by the
scholar Felipe Pedrell (1841-1922), who advocated the creation
of a Spanish "national" expression based on Spain's
rich heritage of folk music. Albeniz's greatest contribution
was Iberia (1909), a suite of 12 pieces for piano brilliantly
evoking the regions and cities of Spain. Granados did the
same, in a more lyrical manner, with his Spanish Dances and
the suite Goyescas (1912-14), both works written for piano.
The themes and scenes of the latter, based on tapestry designs
by the painter Goya, were also used by Granados in an opera
of the same title, produced in 1916.
Manuel de Falla achieved worldwide fame with his ballets El
Amor Brujo (Love the Sorcerer, 1915) and The Three Cornered
Hat (1919), the former humorous, the latter dramatic, and
both imbued with the folklore and dances of Spain. He evoked
the legendary spirit of Andalusia in Nights in the Gardens
of Spain (1909-15), composed for piano and orchestra.
The most successful composers of the generation born around
the turn of the century include Joaquin Rodrigo, whose Concierto
de Aranjuez (1939) is the most widely played of all guitar
concertos; Federico Mompou and Rodolfo Halffter, who continued
mining the resources of Spanish folk music for their themes;
and Joaquin Homs, Spain's first serialist composer. Cristobal
Halffter, nephew of Rodolfo, and Luis de Pablo are representative
of Spain's contemporary composers, whose music--while still
Spanish in its vitality--has moved closer to the modern European
mainstream.
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